Saturday, December 22, 2012

First, on the positive side, and in agreement with Dr. Moreland, we must affirm that Scripture's propositions are ultimately logically coherent. No problem there. However, Moreland's exaltation of human reason is unhelpful. To affirm that God is logical is not equal to affirming that we can discover the logic by which God knows the Truth to be coherent. This claim would be the height of arrogance.

Next, the Church Fathers were NOT so committed to logic that they worked for 400 years to give us a non-contradictory result. They were so committed to Scripture that they worked for 400 years to give us a paradoxical result! That is, a result which might appear contradictory to us, and surely defies the limitations of human logic, but is nonetheless true.

During the 400 years prior to Chalcedon, there were plenty of "logical" approaches offered:

Docetism - taught that Christ only appeared to be manEbionism - taught that Christ was a holy man who kept the lawSabellianism - taught that Christ was the Father incarnate, but only temporarilyPaul of Samosata - taught that Christ was a mere man influenced by GodArianism - taught that Christ was more than man but less than GodApollinarianism - taught that Christ was a compromise mixture of divinity and humanityNestorianism - taught that Christ was two persons, one divine and the other humanEutychianism - taught that Christ's humanity was simply absorbed into His deity

None of these "logical" approaches were willing to go the whole way and affirm what is undeniably taught in Scripture. Each of them was correctly labeled heresy as a result!

Then there was the Council of Chalcedon, which concluded that Christ was ONE PERSON with TWO NATURES, the one nature divine and the other human, and that these two natures now coexist perfectly (and we might add "unfathomably") in the ONE PERSON. There is a certain logic to this, to be sure, but endless truckloads of mystery as well!

Moreland ignores the fact that there are ways in which the logical faith we profess might appear, to us, to be illogical. He pays no attention to the next obvious question: How can this One Person with two natures be both Creator and creature, omniscient and ignorant, omnipresent and localized, omnipotent and powerless, at the very same time? Any attempt to gut the paradoxicality from the doctrine of the Incarnation is shortsighted and doomed to be unsuccessful. Read over the Definition of Chalcedon once or twice, and see if Moreland's rationalistic assumptions are supported there:

Therefore, following the holy fathers, we all with one accord teach men to acknowledge one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, at once complete in Godhead and complete in manhood, truly God and truly man, consisting also of a reasonable soul and body; of one substance with the Father as regards his Godhead, and at the same time of one substance with us as regards his manhood; like us in all respects, apart from sin; as regards his Godhead, begotten of the Father before the ages, but yet as regards his manhood begotten, for us men and for our salvation, of Mary the Virgin, the God-bearer; one and the same Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, recognized in two natures, without confusion, without change, without division, without separation; the distinction of natures being in no way annulled by the union, but rather the characteristics of each nature being preserved and coming together to form one person and subsistence, not as parted or separated into two persons, but one and the same Son and Only-begotten God the Word, Lord Jesus Christ; even as the prophets from earliest times spoke of him, and our Lord Jesus Christ himself taught us, and the creed of the fathers has handed down to us. (Definition of Chalcedon, 451 A.D.)

The Church Fathers who arrived at these conclusions were obviously not rationalists trying to explain their statements in a way that could never be perceived as paradoxical. They boldly exalted the Word of God above human logic. Today's apologists ought to do the same, without hesitation.

Moreland seems to be trying to paint Christian faith in a way that will appeal to rationalists. He attempts to convince them of the truth of Christianity while leaving their unchristian presuppositions intact. Instead, he ought to call them to humble themselves in admitting that there are truths which their best logic will never fully grasp. He should counsel them to repent of their rationalism and hold fast to the words of their Creator. This is their only hope, after all.

Bearing in mind that Moreland is a philosopher by trade, I applaud his willingness to go out and act as an apologist for the faith, address difficult questions, engage with those who are hostile to Christianity, and generally promote an orthodox viewpoint. At the same time, he should not allow the pressures of debate to skew his presentation.

In our estimation, the approach taken by Geoffrey Bingham is much wiser, though far less satisfying to the idolization of logic which is ever present in human hearts:

What has always been difficult to understand is how the deityand the humanity of the Son subsist in the one person Of JesusChrist. Understanding is difficult because we have no precedentin human history, and no parallel in creation. When it comes tothe work of Christ, we must affirm two things clearly:

(a) all that the Son did upon earth, he did as man. That is– as isindicated in Acts 10:38, Matthew 12:28 and similar passages–hewas anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, and so did theworks given to him to do;(b) whilst not effecting these works from the resources of hisown deity, he was nevertheless Emmanuel, i.e. ‘God–with–us’, or‘God–become–man’. We might wish to refer to the kenosis ofPhilippians 2:5–8 (i.e. his self–emptying), as a setting aside of theprerogatives and powers of his deity, but these must certainlyhave continued as he still had to uphold the creation (Col. 1:17;Heb. 1:3).

Since we do not understand how deity and humanity existtogether, we must remain agnostic on that score. We mustemphasise, however, that he was truly man, and not merely theappearance (or charade) of a man.

Let us therefore hold fast to the ever-paradoxical Truth of the Incarnation of the Son of God. Let us not attempt to re-frame it in more palatable terms for the sake of impressing logic-worshipers. Let us adore and worship the eternal LOGOS of God, who is beyond us, above us, and--thanks to the incredible Incarnation--WITH US!

Saturday, December 15, 2012

The Lord has graciously allowed me the opportunity to teach a class on the Incarnation. What a grand topic! The outline below was developed to help view the Incarnation in its wider theological context. You may find it useful for your own edification and Gospel meditation, and perhaps also for study and teaching.

This type of systematic Biblical study highlights the fact that the doctrine of the Incarnation is dependent upon the doctrine of the Trinity; the doctrine of the Cross is dependent upon both the Trinity and the Incarnation; the doctrine of Christ's Final Victory is dependent upon the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Cross. And the doctrines of Salvation, Sanctification, and Glorification are inextricably tied to all of the foregoing. In other words, if Christ was not God and Man, and Suffering and Victorious, we would have no hope. Thank God He IS, and therefore we DO!

AN OUTLINE OF BIBLICAL CHRISTOLOGY

I.I. Pre-Incarnate Glory

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence
with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (Jn 17:5)

a.Divinity

… the
Word was with God, and the Word was God (Jn. 1:1); He is the radiance of the
glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Heb. 1:3)

b.Sonship

… He
gave His only Son … (Jn. 3:16)

c.Work as Creator

For by
Him all things were created … all things were created through Him and for Him (Col.1:16)

d.Revelation as Messiah

Immanuel
(Isa. 7:14); A Prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15-19); The seed of the woman who
will crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15)

See
also Isa. 9:6; Mic. 5:2; Ps. 45:6-7

II.II. Earthly Life (Humiliation)

He was manifested in the flesh … (I Tim. 3:16); But
when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman … (Gal.
4:4)

a.Virgin Birth

Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son … (Isa. 7:14, Mt. 1:23); … for that
which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:20); … the angel
answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called
holy—the Son of God (Lk 1:35)

b.Humanity

Since
… the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the
same things (Heb. 2:14); And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us … (Jn.
1:14); … the man Christ Jesus (I Tim. 2:5)

i.Suffering

Despised
and rejected … a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3); … He
learned obedience through what He suffered (Heb. 5:8)

ii.Temptation

… One
who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15)

c.Holiness & Sinlessness

We… have such a high priest, holy, innocent,
unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. (Heb. 7:26)

i.Innocence from Evil

… who
knew no sin (II Cor. 5:21); He had done no violence … there was no deceit in
His mouth (Isa. 53:9); … in Him there is no sin (I Jn. 3:5)

ii.Practice of Good Works

… how
God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went
about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was
with him. (Acts 10:38)

iii.Faith & Devotion to the Will of God

In the
days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries
and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because
of His reverence. (Heb.5:7); … continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges
justly (I Pet. 2:23)

d.Sacrificial Death

He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages
to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself (Heb. 9:26); Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant
offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:2)

i.Shedding of Blood

… the
church of God, which He obtained with His own blood (Acts 20:28)

ii.Bearing of Sin, Guilt & Wrath

He
Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree (I Pet. 2:24); … the LORD has
laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa.53:6)

iii.Vicarious, Substitutionary Atonement
Accomplished by His death

… who
gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness (Titus 2:14); It is
finished (Jn. 19:30)

III.III. Ultimate Glorification (Exaltation)

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed
on Him the name that is above every name (Php. 2:9); … that in everything He
might be preeminent (Col. 1:18)

a.Resurrection from the Dead

God
raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him
to be held by it (Acts 2:24)

b.Ascension into Heaven

He …
was carried up into heaven (Lk. 24:51); … He was lifted up, and a cloud took
Him out of their sight (Acts 1:9)

c.Enthronement at the Right Hand of the Father

We
have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of
the Majesty in heaven (Heb. 8:1)

When
Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the
right hand of God (Heb. 10:12)

d.Intercession & Mediation for Believers

… He
is the mediator of a new covenant (Heb. 9:15); … there is one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus (I Tim. 2:5);He is able to save to the uttermost those who
draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them
(Heb. 7:25)

e.Second Coming & Final Victory

But
our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ,who
will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that
enables Him even to subject all things to Himself. (Php. 3:20-21)

About the THEOparadox Team

Derek Ashton,Founder:I know enough about myself to be completely amazed that God loves me. His grace toward me has been abundant and overwhelming. I thank Him that I've been married to my beautiful bride since 1996. I have the privilege of raising two wonderful children who are gifts from God. (Read my testimony here).

Emeritus Team Members:Tony Hayling:Learn more about Tony at his site, Agonizomai.

THEOparadox MISSION Statement:

~To honor God by upholding the authority, inerrancy and sufficiency of His Word, the Bible.~To help students of the Word to interpret Biblical paradoxes in a way that faithfully reflects God's heart.~To ignite a devotional flame that will help believers to warm up their theology and burn up their pride.~To encourage Christian faith by resolving or explaining apparent contradictions in the Scriptures.~To explore the nature and extent of paradoxes in historically orthodox, Reformed, Biblical theology.

~To provide Biblical resources for those who desire to know God and His Word better.

~To glorify the Lord Jesus Christ, the Friend of sinners and the Savior of the lost.

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Theology Meets Geometry

Rules

Feel free to respond to anything written in the posts, or to the comments left by others.

Please be charitable. If you disagree, do so with grace. Keep your words positive, focused, and on-topic. We don't expect everyone to agree, but we do expect everyone to treat everyone else with respect and grace, speaking the truth in love.

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Followers

"Heresy is born whenever the Church fails to pray a tension."

"Hyper-Calvinism and Arminianism both result from the same problem: A tension-deficient disorder."

"Human beings are incredibly good over-compensators."

What is a PARADOX?

A tenet or proposition contrary to received opinion, or seemingly absurd, yet true in fact.

Noah Webster, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828 Edition

"... it is synonymous with apparent contradiction. A 'paradox' thus amounts to a set of claims which taken in conjunction appear to be logically inconsistent. Note that according to this definition, paradoxicality does not entail logical inconsistency per se, but merely the appearance of logical inconsistency."

James Anderson, Paradox in Christian Theology

Wise Words ...

"The juxtaposition of words and ideas that don't usually go together make the real point stand out for us more clearly. And some truths in the Christian life are best expressed as oxymorons - paradoxical language."

~Phil Johnson

Wise Words . . .

"By advocating paradox I don't want to give the impression that I'm giving a carte blanche to not think philosophically, to not think deeply, about these doctrines. Quite the opposite. . . . My position is that with each of these doctrines we reflect on them as hard as we can, we penetrate them as best we can based on the Scriptural data that we do have, but we also recognize that there are going to be limits, and that those limits are actually a positive thing and not a reflection of some inherent problem in the doctrines or in the process of theological reflection. . . . I think we can make progress, we can make

considerable progress, in understanding these doctrines and resolving some of the . . . initial difficulties that we have with them, but at the same time recognizing that we're always only going to get so far and when we bump up against the limits of our capacity to formulate them in certain ways or to resolve certain difficulties in them, we

shouldn't be too concerned about that. We certainly shouldn't say, 'Okay, we need to admit that Christians are ultimately irrationalists.' No. We don't need to say that at all. . . . It's a Biblically constrained rationality. It's a middle way between rationalism, of which I think [Gordon H.] Clark was a representative, and irrationalism, of which, to take an example I think the Neo-Orthodox - Karl Barth - would be an example, where you're saying that there are actual contradictions in there. So I think it's navigating a Biblical middle way between these two extremes: having too high a view of the human intellect, and perhaps too low a view of the intellect, of our ability to know the things

of God."

~Dr. James Anderson

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The Gospel

God lovingly sacrificed His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ, for a depraved and law-breaking humanity's only way to be saved from His just wrath, and through His death and resurrection graciously sanctified and secured forever all those who believe on Him - for their ultimate good and His eternal glory.

The following quotation was found in a recent post on a popular Arminian blog . It is by James Arminius, the founder of Arminianism, and pur...

Theological Paradoxes

Below I have listed some of the classic theological paradoxes (and a few interesting ironies, too) . . .

~The Trinity- God is One being revealed in three distinct persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit)~God is transcendent(separate from His creation) yet immanent(in His creation)~Omnipresence- God is always present everywhere, yet He sometimes speaks of Himself as "present" in a special way~The Incarnation- God became a man~The Virgin Birth - A Jewish virgin gave birth to the Son of God~The Two Natures of Christ - Jesus is fully (100%) God and fully (100%) man

~The Atonement is sufficient to save every person, but efficient only for those who believe~God is completely sovereign (in control of everything, everywhere, all the time) yet He is not the author of sin and he uses human choice to accomplish His purposes~Inspiration of Scripture - The Bible was written by sinful human beings yet it is the inerrant and flawless Word of God~Divine Revelation - Sinful man cannot comprehend God, yet God reveals Himself to sinful man~Sanctification- Christians are sinners by nature, but saints by grace~Suffering- God brings His joy and comfort into our lives through our experiences of pain, disappointment and suffering

There are many others. Paradox is everywhere when we attempt to understand God's ways in a genuinely Biblical way.

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The Apostles' Creed

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,Born of the virgin Mary,Suffered under Pontius Pilate,Was Crucified, dead and buried

He descended into Hades;The third day He rose again from the dead;He ascended into heaven,and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty

From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit,The holy catholic (i.e., universal) Church,The communion of saints;the forgiveness of sins;the resurrection of the body;and the life everlasting. Amen